Bed Bugs

I am getting my final treatment on Sat. from the exterminator my building made me use. I slept in my room last night (Wednesday) and after 2 treatments there are still alot of bed bugs left because i caught and killed quite a few. I have never seen as many as i did yesterday maybe they were all hungry because I havent stayed home for about a week. My hopes are now crushed that the exterminators can do this since this is going to be the final treatment, so I would like to know what is best to use on my own like the powders or spray or bombs? I am lost as to what to do this has cost me alot of sleepless nights alot of money and alot of sanity can someone please help as to what i can do on my own? They are only in my room so that is all that I am worried about. I am just considering throwing everything out especially my carpet

I have helped many people in my Home Depot with bed bugs. We sell several different products that are intended to be used in the home, by individuals needing to control bed bugs. These products should always be used in accordance to their labels.

Professional exterminators are the experts and have the ability to apply chemicals that are not available to the retail market. They also have vast experience and the ability to assess the situation at your home on an individual basis.

Bed bugs are closely related to fleas. Their life cycle is also quite similar. The larval development includes 5 molting stages that can be stopped with the use of an Insect Growth Regulator, or IGR. These IGRs are chemicals that are added to insecticides to give a combination of control in one product. Currently, Nylar is the brand name of pyriproxyfen which is the active growth inhibitor. This chemical is relatively harmless to mammals and is used in flea control for animals. Nylar will break the life cycle of the insect.

Methoprene and Precor are other brand names of IGRs that The Home Depot has offered in the past. Currently, Nylar is the IGR in Enforcer Flea Spray For Homes.

Yes, it says flea spray, but bed bugs are closely related and the chemicals involved are effective on all hard-shelled insects.

Spray the surfaces of the furniture in the room. The dust that collects in the seams and crevices of the bed frame are breeding grounds for these bugs. Clean out the cracks and spray the bed posts, frame and rails. Spray the entire floor including under the bed, chairs and tables. Anywhere that you miss will potentially harbor bed bugs. This includes other rooms. Bed bugs(or fleas) that remain in other areas will continue to breed.

The IGR will remain effective for up to seven(7) months. It is water based, so re apply when washed with water. The other insecticide in the mix will kill adult insects for about a month.

The treatments that you have received from the exterminator and the use of Enforcer Flea Spray will control your bedbugs. Here is a link to show more products The Home Depot offers for bed bug control.

Read the labels. If the label does not mention an Insect Growth Regulator, that product will not break the life cycle.

Thanks im just so scared their third treatment wont work i dont know what to do. I cant live like this anymore I just dont really know what to do if it doesnt work. I will get this also and hope it all works. Is the powder a good option? I heard it was effective.

The powders that don't stink are usually borax or deltamethrin. Powders will have a long residual effect and they will kill adult insects, but not their larvae. Put powder where the mess is not an issue.

Just finished the 3rd treatment a great deal less when i sleep found like 2 each night. not sure where they are coming from i will spray and vacuum anything else i should be doing or get mroe treatments?

It is also a good idea to get a plastic mattress cover. This deprives the little critters of a place to hide and breathe. Changing the bedding daily will help also. You don't need to actually wash the sheets, blankets and pillows, but tumble them under high heat in the dryer. Bedbugs cannot survive high heat. In fact, some exterminators kill bed bugs buy extreme heating of the entire room for several hours.

I lived with bedbugs and the hell of getting rid of them for six months. As a response, I wrote my English term paper about them.

The way you say "my building" it sounds like you live in an apartment. If you do, they can't just screw you like that. There may not be legislation in your state about it already, however many other states have adapted some and it can be used as precedence to force them to take care of the problem.

- “No man shall be required to pay rent for a house infested with bed bugs” declared a Chicago jury in 1895 (Potter).

- In August of 2010, former New York state Governor David Paterson signed legislation that requires all landlords must disclose any history of bed bugs within the past year to prospective tenets. This law applies only to New York City, in which there were 11,000 complaints issued about the parasites in 2009 alone (Journal of Property Management).

- On 12 July 2010 a law took effect in Maine that not only required landlords to disclose information of past infestations, but also set regulations on who had to pay for the removal. In this instance, landlords are required to cover the costs of extermination, however a clause exists that can move the responsibility to the tenets if they do not cooperate with extermination efforts (Journal of Property Management).

- In New Jersey, a state-wide bill passed in February 2010 requires landlords to pay for removal or face fines of $300 per bedroom and/or $1,000 per common area. They must also provide resources to tenets on the insects and preventative methods (Journal of Property Management).

- The state of Massachusetts decreed that infestations fall under the current statute requiring landlords to “maintain the dwelling you own without insect infestation” (MA: 105 CMR 410.550). Property owners are responsible for inspecting each unit and financing any required extermination (Journal of Property Management).

- Several other states have pressed for legislation about bed bug infestations. In Illinois, pending legislation would require landlords to take responsibility for infestation. Additionally, discussions have been ongoing about petitioning the federal government to allow banned insecticides to be used in treating bed bugs in residential units. Ohio has already petitioned the federal government to use the chemicals, and also has pending legislation to create an awareness and prevention program. The matter has also been brought before the U.S. House of Representatives in a bill that would give grants to assist individual states in inspecting hotels for the parasites (Journal of Property Management).

This gives you plenty of backup if your apartment building is flaking out on you. If you'd like, I'll email you my entire paper on the subject, which includes their biology, history, best ways to remove them, and legislation (all of which I believe I pasted above). I'm also willing to answer any and all other questions you have. Anything I can do to help someone else not live in that hell.